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Microsoft Studios (& Partners) Current and Future Landscape

Sydle

Member
I'll give you Kameo 2 and Perfect Dark 2 because weren't those two cancelled around late 2007? Mattrick was already there at that point. No idea about Lost Odyssey 2. And I have no clue what you're talking about in regards to Banjo 4. There was never a "Banjo 4" as far as I remember? If I'm not mistaken, Rare had some Banjo racing game they were working on after Nuts & Bolts that was cancelled. Maybe you got those two mixed up? :p

Pretty sure Kameo and Perfect Dark sequels were canned in 2009. I can find only the Destructoid story about Lost Odyssey 2 being in the works. Also reminds me what was the official story behind the cancellation of Cry-On?

I probably am mixing up the Banjo game.
 

JlNX

Member
To the people trying to attach this to Phil, I feel like this is coming from above. Remember Phil is on the board at Microsoft now, Xbox can't hide away any more. Nadella seems to want services to be what Microsoft is all about, and a single player RPG thats a money pit isn't going to float especially if it was having development issues.

Remember Phil was head of Microsoft studios Europe during Rare's and Lionheads best days, after he got promoted to head Rare and Lionhead went downhill. You can see from 2008 onwards it gets bad for those studios. Not to mention Phil working with Remedy all those years, giving Remedy really long dev cycles and funding their games when they were niche. He also brought us Mistwalker, and came with that Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon etc.

This seems like Microsofts controlling hands all over this, when Phil implemented his team a lot of us on Gaf were happy because it was a team who understood, developed and played games. (funnily enough a lot of the team was old Microsoft studios Europe team i.e Shanon etc.) This seems like a very constrained Xbox, lack of risks, quickly killing projects as soon as there is a issue, adverse to first party and focus on second party to avoid risk (Quickly kill a project without the Lionhead situation.)

What has become more clear is platform development and hardware development is their focus, very similar to I don't know maybe windows 10 and the surface line??? Heavy reliance on third party like windows??? UWP a way to connect Xbox and windows so any development on one benefits the other, again reducing risk. All this at the same time the xbox hardware team is combined with the surface team, the xbox platform team gets combined with the windows team. Focus on single ip's i.e Halo just like windows with office.

I hope Microsoft proves me wrong at E3 and that they have got real good at keeping secrets and that this Scalebound cancellation really is a development issue. I'm still happy with 2017's lineup because I like all those games, but the fact we don't know anything about 2018's lineup either means they are doing the short reveal to releases Phil has been saying or they have very few games but they are very long term service based. If they prove me wrong then I will be very happy with the best of both worlds. Basically it's the best or the worst no middle.
 

daTRUballin

Member
Pretty sure Kameo and Perfect Dark sequels were canned in 2009. I can find only the Destructoid story about Lost Odyssey 2 being in the works. Also reminds me what was the official story behind the cancellation of Cry-On?

I probably am mixing up the Banjo game.

Well, whether they were cancelled in late 2007 or in 2009, it doesn't make a difference in this case then. Mattrick was present during both of these time periods. :p
 

Salty Hippo

Member
To the people trying to attach this to Phil, I feel like this is coming from above. Remember Phil is on the board at Microsoft now, Xbox can't hide away any more. Nadella seems to want services to be what Microsoft is all about, and a single player RPG thats a money pit isn't going to float especially if it was having development issues.

Remember Phil was head of Microsoft studios Europe during Rare's and Lionheads best days, after he got promoted to head Rare and Lionhead went downhill. You can see from 2008 onwards it gets bad for those studios. Not to mention Phil working with Remedy all those years, giving Remedy really long dev cycles and funding their games when they were niche. He also brought us Mistwalker, and came with that Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon etc.

This seems like Microsofts controlling hands all over this, when Phil implement his team a lot of us on Gaf were happy because it was a team who understood, developed and played games. (funnily enough a lot of the team was old Microsoft studios Europe team i.e Shanon etc.) This seems like a very constrained Xbox, lack of risks, quickly killing projects as soon as there is a issue, adverse to first party and focus on second party to avoid risk (Quickly kill a project without the Lionhead situation.)

What has become more clear is platform development and hardware development is their focus, very similar to I don't know maybe windows 10 and the surface line??? Heavy reliance on third party like windows??? UWP a way to connect Xbox and windows so any development on one benefits the other, again reducing risk. All this at the same time the xbox hardware team is combined with the surface team, the xbox platform team gets combined with the windows team. Focus on single ip's i.e Halo just like windows with office.

I hope Microsoft proves me wrong at E3 and that they have got real good at keeping secrets and that this Scalebound cancellation really is a development issue. I'm still happy with 2017's lineup because I like all those games, but the fact we don't know anything about 2018's lineup either means they are doing the short reveal to releases Phil has been saying or they have very few games but they are very long term service based. If they prove me wrong then I will be very happy with the best of both worlds. Basically it's the best or the worst no middle.

This is just ludicrous. A general Head of Studios has much more say and input than a Head of European Studios. Why are you excusing him if it was EXACTLY when he got PROMOTED that both of those studios went downhill? This is fucking insane.
 

JlNX

Member
This is just ludicrous. A general Head of Studios has much more say and input than a Head of European Studios. Why are you excusing him if it was EXACTLY when he got PROMOTED that both of those studios went downhill? This is fucking insane.

Salty I know you have this weirdly relentless hate for Phil but it seems the head of first party doesn't seem to have much involvement with Microsoft studios Europe. Look at Phil Harisson after joining in 2012 he had Rare and Lionhead on F2P but Microsoft's other studio were not working on anything like that. It seems Xbox headquarters is very America focused in studios and demographic. Europe, South America and Japan seem to be independent. Also again hyperbolic :)

EDIT: You can also see when Phil took over as head of Xbox the Microsoft studios Europe position wasn't filled, and seems now that Shanon as head of first party, is commander over all of it. Phil's comments the year that Rare revealed their new game reflect this, were he wasn't hiding it "Rare's finally making games again."
 

Sydle

Member
Well, whether they were cancelled in late 2007 or in 2009, it doesn't make a difference in this case then. Mattrick was present during both of these time periods. :p

My bad, all this time I thought Mattrick joined in mid 2008, which is why I pointed out the dates. A quick Wikipedia search shows it was mid 2007. Sorry.

This is just ludicrous. A general Head of Studios has much more say and input than a Head of European Studios. Why are you excusing him if it was EXACTLY when he got PROMOTED that both of those studios went downhill? This is fucking insane.

Partly true.

Peter Molyneux was the Creative Director of EMEA studios when he was promoted in 2009 until he left in 2012. I believe he did report to Spencer, but I'm not sure.

I'm not sure who appointed Scott Henson to head up Rare starting in 2010, but Scott was adamant Kinect was their future.

Phil Harrison took over the EMEA studios from 2012 on and reported directly to Mattrick. Harrison was explicit about wanting to make all of the EMEA studios focus on games as a service. It's why you used to see tweets from Spencer saying he hadn't seen Rare's new game (Sea of Thieves) yet, but Harrison gushed that it was one of his favorite projects even before Spencer got to see and play it for the first time.

I'd believe anyone who said Spencer had some influence over all first-party games once he became Head of MS Studios, but I wouldn't believe anyone who said he full authority to call all of the shots on the priorities of the studios.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
It's a shift. Just like how Sony relies on third parties to solve their multiplayer game issues, MS are likely going to rely on third parties to provide single player experiences. Since their own attempts have been met with lukewarm response at most.

one problem



Multiplayer and/or online connected experiences are the norm. Nearly every 3rd party game is online with micro transactions. Outside of CProjekt.......theres not many left.....Bioware would probably be the only other true singleplayer experience heavy crew

There are not many big single player experiences anymore.


Microsoft is now stuck in this huge multiplayer hole where the only singleplayer experiences they get are the smaller titles like Ori and Cuphead.

It's not a bad thing......however Microsoft is basically screwed. All their games basically encourage microtransactions with a multiplayer experience with a tacked on campaign.




Xbox brand really shouldn't be controlled by upper management since its clear they have no idea what they are doing. Windows store has been awful, Bad management or green lights.......Phil is stuck and pretty much getting fucked by upper management.
 

Angel_DvA

Member
because my thread was closed, I'll put the OG messge here if people still want to talk about it:

As much as I like the way he speaks and give the impression that he's competent for gamers, his track record with the Xbox division is pretty terrible, I think people forget that he was already there when Mattrick created the OG Xbox One and I'm not sure he's working towards Xbox fans right now, he's probably trying to make the Xbox division profitable for Microsoft which is great for MS I guess.

Because sure, nothing wrong with that, I'm sure Microsoft, as a company, pretty like what Phil does for them, but as a gamer and as a past xbox fan, I don't think he's doing any good for us, gamer. What's happening now is the exact opposite of what I want out of a Phil spencer leadership

I remember when he became head of Xbox and everyone was saying how there'll be tons of new games, how bright the future would be with him because he was a gamer and bla bla bla and I was one of them, I believed in Phil Spencer too but the time has passing by and we are still in Mattrick Legacy, it's pretty crazy, we are still on the same lineup of 2013-2014, then he closed many studios including Lionhead Studio, Xbox Entertainment Studios, Ensemble Studios and many more, he still hasn't created a strong IP or any IP either, he cancelled many games ( Fable, Phantom Dust, Scalebound, black tusk game for Gears 4 ) and he closed Project Spark too... and he stopped doing exclusive games for the Xbox One...

I think Microsoft is transitioning all their games to the 'live service' model, they probably want their games to have long lifecycle, large user base, full of micro-transaction to increased spend, we've seen this with Minecraft or Killer Instinct, I'm sure Halo and Gears will go in that direction too, I'm sure Halo will go something like destiny, more in the online department and they will all run on Win 10 ecosystem, it's not a bad thing for Microsoft but what is it for us gamer ?

Honestly, there's a serious lack of single player story driven games for the console, Everything is literally MP focused and I'm not seing Phil doing anything to go against that statement, I'm not very hopeful for the future either, Scorpio won't change anything if it's just a more powerful PS4, they need to have real exclusives, great new IP with great single player experience, they need to have more studio and give to their "Big three" the option to do something else because Halo, Gears are dying, I think Microsoft should go fresh, rebooting the Xbox brand and stop working with Spencer and Greenberg.

They need to have an amazing E3, if not, well, the Xbox One division will be in trouble.
 
R5p9G94.gif
 

LordRaptor

Member
I think anyone who believes that Don Mattrick was entirely free of any corporate oversight, and could do whatever he wanted, and what he really wanted was to destroy Xbox, but that good guy Phil Spencer is just one man fighting for what he believes in but unable to overcome the evil corporation dictating his every move really needs to check their confirmation bias.
 

Angel_DvA

Member
I think anyone who believes that Don Mattrick was entirely free of any corporate oversight, and could do whatever he wanted, and what he really wanted was to destroy Xbox, but that good guy Phil Spencer is just one man fighting for what he believes in but unable to overcome the evil corporation dictating his every move really needs to check their confirmation bias.

Agree.
 
I think anyone who believes that Don Mattrick was entirely free of any corporate oversight, and could do whatever he wanted, and what he really wanted was to destroy Xbox, but that good guy Phil Spencer is just one man fighting for what he believes in but unable to overcome the evil corporation dictating his every move really needs to check their confirmation bias.

Who actually believes that or is saying that?

And talking about confirmation bias from yourself?

"Pot, have you met Mr Kettle?" lol
 

R3TRODYCE

Member
I think anyone who believes that Don Mattrick was entirely free of any corporate oversight, and could do whatever he wanted, and what he really wanted was to destroy Xbox, but that good guy Phil Spencer is just one man fighting for what he believes in but unable to overcome the evil corporation dictating his every move really needs to check their confirmation bias.
Yep
 

ViciousDS

Banned
I think anyone who believes that Don Mattrick was entirely free of any corporate oversight, and could do whatever he wanted, and what he really wanted was to destroy Xbox, but that good guy Phil Spencer is just one man fighting for what he believes in but unable to overcome the evil corporation dictating his every move really needs to check their confirmation bias.

Mattrick was involved with the golden era of the 360......no way the xbox one's major design flaws were purely him. Sure he loved and was hugely involved in the kinect......but the whole bundled experience was most likely the higher ups
 

Montresor

Member
If the pre-E3 Scorpio conference doesn't show some dramatic improvement in Microsoft's 1st/2nd-party lineup, I will say "I backed the wrong fucking horse".

I'm still an Xbox fan but the other side (PS4) is getting tons of de facto Japanese 3rd party exclusives and has a huge stable of 1st party exclusives.

I say that I'm an Xbox fan and love Xbox games but little by little Microsoft is removing the things I love about them. Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man were two of the best top notch games of last gen. The developer (Twisted Pixel) is no longer a 1st-party dev. Alan Wake was one of the best games of last gen and Quantum Break was one of the best games of this gen. The developer (Remedy) is no longer a 2nd-party dev. Press Play made Max Curse Of Brotherhood and Kalimba (both really good puzzle games). They're closed down. I never played the Fable games but the Fable dev is also closed. I mean what the fuck?

Scalebound was being touted as one of the big exclusives for 2 years, and that's cancelled? Even if Microsoft was justified in cancelling the game (i.e. Platinum was incompetent) it still looks bad and shows they don't have a good eye for talent.

Where is Sunset Overdrive 2? Where is D4 Season 2?

When will 343 or The Coalition ever make a new IP (like Naughty Dog does)?

I mean damn, I need some good news here. Somebody leak something good please.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
If the pre-E3 Scorpio conference doesn't show some dramatic improvement in Microsoft's 1st/2nd-party lineup, I will say "I backed the wrong fucking horse".

I'm still an Xbox fan but the other side (PS4) is getting tons of de facto Japanese 3rd party exclusives and has a huge stable of 1st party exclusives.

I say that I'm an Xbox fan and love Xbox games but little by little Microsoft is removing the things I love about them. Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man were two of the best top notch games of last gen. The developer (Twisted Pixel) is no longer a 1st-party dev. Alan Wake was one of the best games of last gen and Quantum Break was one of the best games of this gen. The developer (Remedy) is no longer a 2nd-party dev. Press Play made Max Curse Of Brotherhood and Kalimba (both really good puzzle games). They're closed down. I never played the Fable games but the Fable dev is also closed. I mean what the fuck?

Scalebound was being touted as one of the big exclusives for 2 years, and that's cancelled? Even if Microsoft was justified in cancelling the game (i.e. Platinum was incompetent) it still looks bad and shows they don't have a good eye for talent.

Where is Sunset Overdrive 2? Where is D4 Season 2?

When will 343 or The Coalition ever make a new IP (like Naughty Dog does)?

I mean damn, I need some good news here. Somebody leak something good please.

only hints we had was that the list was getting smaller......it doesn't like Shinobi was hinting at anything new. This sucks....once I'm done replaying the Mass Effect trilogy its back to the PS4......its pretty sad that the only reason I power on my xbox one is due to backwards compatibility. You know you royally fucked up if thats the only reason people power on their machine is for 360 titles.
 

m23

Member
If the pre-E3 Scorpio conference doesn't show some dramatic improvement in Microsoft's 1st/2nd-party lineup, I will say "I backed the wrong fucking horse".

I'm still an Xbox fan but the other side (PS4) is getting tons of de facto Japanese 3rd party exclusives and has a huge stable of 1st party exclusives.

I say that I'm an Xbox fan and love Xbox games but little by little Microsoft is removing the things I love about them. Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man were two of the best top notch games of last gen. The developer (Twisted Pixel) is no longer a 1st-party dev. Alan Wake was one of the best games of last gen and Quantum Break was one of the best games of this gen. The developer (Remedy) is no longer a 2nd-party dev. Press Play made Max Curse Of Brotherhood and Kalimba (both really good puzzle games). They're closed down. I never played the Fable games but the Fable dev is also closed. I mean what the fuck?

Scalebound was being touted as one of the big exclusives for 2 years, and that's cancelled? Even if Microsoft was justified in cancelling the game (i.e. Platinum was incompetent) it still looks bad and shows they don't have a good eye for talent.

Where is Sunset Overdrive 2? Where is D4 Season 2?

When will 343 or The Coalition ever make a new IP (like Naughty Dog does)?

I mean damn, I need some good news here. Somebody leak something good please.

Exactly how I feel. This cancellation is just another in a long list of abandoned games and ips. This signals where Xbox is going, I'm not that interested in this path.
 

LordRaptor

Member
Who actually believes that or is saying that?

And talking about confirmation bias from yourself?

"Pot, have you met Mr Kettle?" lol

Uhhhh... I literally don't have the time to go through Xbox threads where people blame Don Mattrick for everything that went wrong with Xbox, pronounce Phil Spencer as their saviour, and then blame his bosses for everything that goes wrong under his watch.
Thats the very definition of confirmation bias - I don't like x so everything wrong that happens to x is his fault / I like y, so everything wrong that happens to y is just bad luck

Please, enlighten me on my confirmation bias.
 

jelly

Member
They should probably make a Halo RPG at this point. Looks like they don't give new IP's that much of a chance.

They already tried that, think it might have been an MMO of sorts.

Obsidian pitched an RPG, that never got the green light. Think they put a lot of work into it though which left them hanging.

It doesn't look like they've got much beyond 2017 except Halo 6 unless they've been hiding studios all this time.
 
Uhhhh... I literally don't have the time to go through Xbox threads where people blame Don Mattrick for everything that went wrong with Xbox, pronounce Phil Spencer as their saviour, and then blame his bosses for everything that goes wrong under his watch.
Thats the very definition of confirmation bias - I don't like x so everything wrong that happens to x is his fault / I like y, so everything wrong that happens to y is just bad luck

Please, enlighten me on my confirmation bias.

Yeah most people think Mattrick was a wank and Spencer is a good guy (Chewin The Fat shout out to anyone that knows it) but I wouldnt put it into the hyperbolic words that you used and I dont know anyone that has/does and is being serious when they say it.

And as far as bias, if I look through your post history am I going to see any comments from yourself about good things that MS have done or do you only comment in a negative manner when it comes to MS? I really cant be arsed looking through your post history so if you have in fact been positive about MS in other threads then I take it all back :)
 

LordRaptor

Member
Obsidian pitched an RPG, that never got the green light. Think they put a lot of work into it though which left them hanging.

They salvaged it into a PC project

e:
And as far as bias, if I look through your post history am I going to see any comments from yourself about good things that MS have done or do you only comment in a negative manner when it comes to MS? I really cant be arsed looking through your post history so if you have in fact been positive about MS in other threads then I take it all back :)

I am extremely critical about the Xbox divisions handling of PC gaming. That doesn't extend to MS as a whole, nor do I comment in threads that don't interest or concern me (like general Xbox things)
 

Montresor

Member
only hints we had was that the list was getting smaller......it doesn't like Shinobi was hinting at anything new. This sucks....once I'm done replaying the Mass Effect trilogy its back to the PS4......its pretty sad that the only reason I power on my xbox one is due to backwards compatibility. You know you royally fucked up if thats the only reason people power on their machine is for 360 titles.

Exactly how I feel. This cancellation is just another in a long list of abandoned games and ips. This signals where Xbox is going, I'm not that interested in this path.

Now having said all of what I already said, there has never been a console that has given me as much to enjoy as Xbox One. The benefit for me is I typically don't really care about exclusives.... as long as the game is GOOD, and the game is actually ON XBOX, then hey, I get to play it, and that's what really matters to me. So I love the Xbox controller and the Xbox OS and the general Xbox exclusives, but most of my playtime this gen has been with indies (especially indie puzzle games). Here is a list of the puzzle games that I've played on this gen (from the great, to the okay, to the bad).

Excellent, near perfect puzzle/adventure games, rated 5/5:


In Between
So Many Me
D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
Unravel
White Night
Limbo
The Walking Dead Season 1
The Wolf Among Us
Life Is Strange
Thomas Was Alone
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
Inside
The Turing Test
The Witness
King's Quest


The next tier of excellent puzzle/adventure games, rated 4.5/5:

A Boy and His Blob
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
The Bridge
Q.U.B.E. Director's Cut
Gone Home
The Walking Dead Season 2
Virginia
Hue
Batman by Telltale
Oxenfree


Great puzzle/adventure games, rated 4/5:

Flockers
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
Kalimba
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Lifeless Planet
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishment
Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek
Pneuma: Breath of Life
Unmechanical: Extended Edition
The Fall
Beyond Eyes
Stick it to the Man
Cubot - The Complexity of Simplicity
The Swapper
6180 The Moon
The Walking Dead: Michonne
Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse
Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride
Teslagrad
TurnOn
Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren's Call
Eventide: Slavic Fable
Firewatch
Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood
The Little Acre


3.5/5:

Back to the Future: The Game - 30th Anniversary Edition
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series
Submerged
Tales from the Borderlands


3/5:

Minecraft: Story Mode - A Telltale Games Series
Contrast
The Park


2.5/5

Murdered: Soul Suspect
Blues & Bullets
Fragments of Him
140


2/5:

Whispering Willows
Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition
Gemini: Heroes Reborn
Among The Sleep


1.5/5

Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
The Bunker


1/5:

NERO
Albedo: Eyes from Outer Space



I mean I can't say I haven't loved my Xbox One. And the above list doesn't include the various 3rd-party AAA games I've enjoyed along with the really really good exclusives from this gen (stuff like Forza Horizon 3, Sunset Overdrive and so on).

But I want my platform to have good 1st-parties too. And I just don't like Scalebound (a huge first-party/second-party game) getting cancelled like this.
 

wapplew

Member
They do. People just dont buy them.

Maybe give it another go? Those IP certainly have some fans following. Make a sequel to please those fans, score some PR point if you will.
Isn't that what a platform holder suppose to do? Cultivate fans of all kind?
 
Microsoft sure seems alone with their lack of interest in mainland Europe.

I don't think that was their intention. They fucked up at the beginning of this console generation with their "always online" debacle, packaging Kinect, and having an underpowered system. Had their system been on parity with Sony's and they never entertained "always online", and sold their Kinect separately; Microsoft would've been in a much better place and they know that now.

That's why i think people are putting too much stock in their exclusives when they're happy being the best third party machine, dominate America and do well in the UK; and consistently put out Halo, Gears, Forza, Rare, Third party partnership, and try something new each year.
 

RoKKeR

Member
If the pre-E3 Scorpio conference doesn't show some dramatic improvement in Microsoft's 1st/2nd-party lineup, I will say "I backed the wrong fucking horse".

I'm still an Xbox fan but the other side (PS4) is getting tons of de facto Japanese 3rd party exclusives and has a huge stable of 1st party exclusives.

I say that I'm an Xbox fan and love Xbox games but little by little Microsoft is removing the things I love about them. Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man were two of the best top notch games of last gen. The developer (Twisted Pixel) is no longer a 1st-party dev. Alan Wake was one of the best games of last gen and Quantum Break was one of the best games of this gen. The developer (Remedy) is no longer a 2nd-party dev. Press Play made Max Curse Of Brotherhood and Kalimba (both really good puzzle games). They're closed down. I never played the Fable games but the Fable dev is also closed. I mean what the fuck?

Scalebound was being touted as one of the big exclusives for 2 years, and that's cancelled? Even if Microsoft was justified in cancelling the game (i.e. Platinum was incompetent) it still looks bad and shows they don't have a good eye for talent.

Where is Sunset Overdrive 2? Where is D4 Season 2?

When will 343 or The Coalition ever make a new IP (like Naughty Dog does)?

I mean damn, I need some good news here. Somebody leak something good please.
Feeling similarly to be quite honest.
 

m23

Member
Maybe give it another go? Those IP certainly have some fans following. Make a sequel to please those fans, score some PR point if you will.
Isn't that what a platform holder suppose to do? Cultivate fans of all kind?

Build the IPs up. So many great opportunities for new fresh IPs but because the first game doesn't sell, MS gives up.

SSO is a perfect example.
 
Honestly, I don't know if it's chronic mismanagement or deliberate strategy, but MS' seeming dramatic contraction of their gaming division is worrying. How many studios have we seen closed over the last few years? And at this point it feels like more of their big reveals have been cancelled or vanished than have actually come out.

Shit seems dire.
 
If the pre-E3 Scorpio conference doesn't show some dramatic improvement in Microsoft's 1st/2nd-party lineup, I will say "I backed the wrong fucking horse".

I'm still an Xbox fan but the other side (PS4) is getting tons of de facto Japanese 3rd party exclusives and has a huge stable of 1st party exclusives.

I say that I'm an Xbox fan and love Xbox games but little by little Microsoft is removing the things I love about them. Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man were two of the best top notch games of last gen. The developer (Twisted Pixel) is no longer a 1st-party dev. Alan Wake was one of the best games of last gen and Quantum Break was one of the best games of this gen. The developer (Remedy) is no longer a 2nd-party dev. Press Play made Max Curse Of Brotherhood and Kalimba (both really good puzzle games). They're closed down. I never played the Fable games but the Fable dev is also closed. I mean what the fuck?

Scalebound was being touted as one of the big exclusives for 2 years, and that's cancelled? Even if Microsoft was justified in cancelling the game (i.e. Platinum was incompetent) it still looks bad and shows they don't have a good eye for talent.

Where is Sunset Overdrive 2? Where is D4 Season 2?

When will 343 or The Coalition ever make a new IP (like Naughty Dog does)?

I mean damn, I need some good news here. Somebody leak something good please.

Some things left to leak are pretty shitty. Best just wait for E3 and let realities sink in.
 

Rocketz

Member
E3 is going to be a pretty deciding factor of what I want to due this coming holiday season and I don't even have a ton of confidence if any. I've had a lot of fun with my Xbox and its basically exclusively what I game on. I'm (was?) excited for Scorpio but it's getting harder for me in want to invest in this update. Why invest with them when the competition is offering something that is going to be cheaper and has more to offer in terms of games.
 
MS will need a really good E3 this year. It won't be enough to just have their usual solid yet predictable showings. It will obviously come down to the third party partnerships they bring. I also want to see if they change up the general pacing and structure of the show like Sony. That would aid their conference too.

Oh, and no Hololens/Minecraft (or an equivalent) thing. :p

Some things left to leak are pretty shitty. Best just wait for E3 and let realities sink in.
We're talking about game announcements here?
 

jelly

Member
I've got the fear that Microsoft will go in deep with games as a service, micro-transactions with the next lot of games. Built from the ground up to exploit that threaded right through the games, not just an option here and there.

Halo 6
Forza 7
Sea of Thieves
State of Decay 2
Crackdown 3

Multiplayer, always connected, stuff to buy, loot, reqs.

I know a lot of games are like that already to some degree but if they are slimming down and want considerably more return on games, it can't be a half measure to reach that goal.
 
MS will need a really good E3 this year. It won't be enough to just have their usual solid yet predictable showings. It will obviously come down to the third party partnerships they bring. I also want to see if they change up the general pacing and structure of the show like Sony. That would aid their conference too.

Oh, and no Hololens/Minecraft (or an equivalent) thing. :p

We're talking about game announcements here?

Maybe its more games cancellations .
 
Maybe its more games cancellations .
I figured it was leaks about what happened with Scalebound. Sneaker has been speaking on that situation and what will eventually come out on that. But he mentioned waiting for E3. So, I figured it was game related too.

It can't be more cancellations. I think MS would rather fight through it than make more cancellation announcements.
 
I figured it was leaks about what happened with Scalebound. Sneaker has been speaking on that situation and what will eventually come out on that. But he mentioned waiting for E3. So, I figured it was game related too.

It can't be more cancellations. I think MS would rather fight through it than make more cancellation announcements.

It's probably not more cancellations. If they were going to cancel multiple projects that they have already announced, then they would have grouped the messaging together. My guess is that games are getting delayed.
 
I figured it was leaks about what happened with Scalebound. Sneaker has been speaking on that situation and what will eventually come out on that. But he mentioned waiting for E3. So, I figured it was game related too.

It can't be more cancellations. I think MS would rather fight through it than make more cancellation announcements.

Not more cancellations. To be fair, its not like they have a heck of a lot of other projects that would be in danger of that now. CD3 is definitely coming out, like I said. Its all just stuff that further disenfranchises me.
Crackdown delayed or perhaps even a Scorpio delay?

All bets are off at this point.

One could easily infer the push into 2017 for both Scalebound 3 & SB were both signs of troubled developments and Scorpio delays, so its not like that hasn't already happened.
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
If the pre-E3 Scorpio conference doesn't show some dramatic improvement in Microsoft's 1st/2nd-party lineup, I will say "I backed the wrong fucking horse".

I'm still an Xbox fan but the other side (PS4) is getting tons of de facto Japanese 3rd party exclusives and has a huge stable of 1st party exclusives.

I say that I'm an Xbox fan and love Xbox games but little by little Microsoft is removing the things I love about them. Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man were two of the best top notch games of last gen. The developer (Twisted Pixel) is no longer a 1st-party dev. Alan Wake was one of the best games of last gen and Quantum Break was one of the best games of this gen. The developer (Remedy) is no longer a 2nd-party dev. Press Play made Max Curse Of Brotherhood and Kalimba (both really good puzzle games). They're closed down. I never played the Fable games but the Fable dev is also closed. I mean what the fuck?

Scalebound was being touted as one of the big exclusives for 2 years, and that's cancelled? Even if Microsoft was justified in cancelling the game (i.e. Platinum was incompetent) it still looks bad and shows they don't have a good eye for talent.

Where is Sunset Overdrive 2? Where is D4 Season 2?

When will 343 or The Coalition ever make a new IP (like Naughty Dog does)?

I mean damn, I need some good news here. Somebody leak something good please.

Where do I sign?

I'm also an Xbox fan and really like their 1st party games. But where's the investment from MS?? Where are the new IP's, where's the freedom to allow 343 works in a new IP since they're bashed every day by Halo fans cause they're not Bungie. Why they're closing or letting all the good studios go away??

When I think about 343 developers working I imagine them suffocated cause they can't do their own thing and doesn't matter what they do to Halo they will never gather a fine support from fans. I fear the same can happen to Coallition besides Gears 4 being well recepted by old fans (not by new players though).

Where's Crackdown 3? They've shown it in E3 2014 (?) and since then all we got was a CGI trailer and an cloud tech-demo. I want to see the game, but it seems farer from releasing than ever... wich also leads me to believe it may be canned as well.

I don't know... something doesn't smell good in it. I don't know if I'm jumping the gun here, but one of my hypotesis would be that maybe MS is planning on closing down the Xbox or gaming division in the future and focus on their operating system with everything they got. That's merely a hypotesis though and I'm not really too worried about this stuff (it is what it is), I was just wondering why they're not investing in new IPs and keeping their studios with them.
 
It's probably not more cancellations. If they were going to cancel multiple projects that they have already announced, then they would have grouped the messaging together. My guess is that games are getting delayed.

Not more cancellations. To be fair, its not like they have a heck of a lot of other projects that would be in danger of that now. CD3 is definitely coming out, like I said. Its all just stuff that further disenfranchises me.
Gotcha.

Yeah, I could see a delay or two. C3 and SoT being the obvious targets.
 
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